The Back Room Poets supports the following charities by fundraising at various events.
- Oxford Restore
Restore is an Oxfordshire charity that supports people with mental health problems to do things that they want to do. They provide training, encouragement, a supportive environment, the chance to achieve, and one to one support. - SOS Sahel
SOS Sahel was set up in 1985, and is the only British development organisation to focus exclusively on the semi-arid lands of the Sahel and Horn of Africa. They support activities in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger and Mali, some of the poorest countries in the world. Projects are designed by local people to meet their needs and address their problems. They specialise in:
Securing Rights
Helping groups of herders and farmers to negotiate long-term management agreements so that they have rights to the forest, land and water resources that their livelihoods depend on.
Improving Livelihoods
Improving crop and livestock production, providing credit for income generation, raising literacy levels and ensuring safe water supply to help poor men and women meet their immediate needs.
Changing Policy
Lobbying governments to change laws and codes of practice in order to help the poorest people fight poverty and environmental degradation. - Khayalitsha Township drama project for young people
A recent update on the progress of this project - 'The drama group had just won first prize at the Buya Arts Festival on May 30 at the University of Stellenbosch. [The drama teacher] sent pictures of a mighty trophy plus they were about to go off to the Arts Cape High School Festival. The news about the Back Room Poets event is absolutely fantastic. The money matters to the school, obviously, but I think knowing that other people are thinking about them and wishing them well is also really important for the kids.' - The Salaam Balaak Trust
The Salaam Balaak Trust (SBT) is a charity which has been working with homeless street children in Delhi for the past 18 years. Some children run away from abusive or deprived family environments, others are abandoned by their impoverished parents, and Delhi railway station is where a vast majority congregate to scavenge, sleep, and make the most of the meagre facilities. Here they live very vulnerable lives exposed to violence, abuse, drug addiction and disease. SBT, however, has set up a number of contact points around the station, offering medical assistance, counselling and also longer-term help and care for those who wish to leave street life. The Trust has set up five 24-hour care shelters, one exclusively for girls.
